Armenian Apricot Soup

Submitted by AmandaInOz

"From The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups by David Ansel."

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 8-10

ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 3 cups red lentils, rinsed
• 10 cups water
• 12 ounces dried apricots, chopped
• salt

directions

1. Heat the oil in your soup pot over medium heat, then stir in the onions and carrots. Saute for about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and stir well. Decrease the heat, cover, and let the vegetables sweat for ten minutes.
2. Add the lentils and pour in enough of the water to cover. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for twenty minutes, or until the lentils and carrots are tender. Add more of the water as needed as the lentils soften and expand.
3. Remove from the heat, stir in the apricots and any remaining water, and season with salt. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth; alternatively working in batches, puree in a regular blender until smooth. Take care not to over salt this soup. The right amount will bring out the flavor of the apricots but leave the onions in the background. Serve hot.

Reviews

[Valerie P.]

This made a ridiculous amount of soup. I would suggest halving the recipe. I had never heard of Armenian apricot soup, and like another reviewer mentioned, it's strange enough to my palate to not become a favorite for dinner. However, it is delicious and unique and would be a great starter before dinner, or a side dish during the holidays. I used a vitamix to blend it, so it was very smooth and needed a crusty bread to go with it.

 

[ChesapeakeMermaid]

Good recipe, but could be a little sweeter. Following this recipe to a "T" renders a more bitter than sweet taste. I'll definitely make this again, but will modify the recipe next time (likely adding honey) to curtail the bitterness. Also, the prep time was off; I spent about 35 - 40 minutes prepping. Using the listed ingredients and amounts produces A LOT of this soup, so I ended up freezing about half.

 

[appleydapply]

The apricot flavor in this soup was so unexpected in each bite! We all enjoyed it, although it was so different that I'm not sure it will become a favorite. I have been wanting to try it since seeing it in the book a few weeks ago, so thanks for posting!

 

[VegSocialWorker]

Tasty! We liked this quite a bit. I was worried at first because I thought it was lacking in flavor- but once I added the apricots and the salt is was great. My immersion blender died half way through blending, so there were some chunks in it but we liked it that way. I carried on with the savory fruit for dinner theme and served it with a spinach salad topped with blueberries, strawberries, pecans and fresh raspberry dressing. This recipe makes a ton, so we will be having it for lunches this week. Thanks for posting. Made for the vegetairan swap.

 

[Sydney Mike]

An interesting soup! I cut the recipe in half, but, now, thinking about it, probably should have made the whole thing & frozen part of it, if anything, to see how well it would keep! Anyway, I used a medium size onion sweet onion & 2 medium carrots, with the rest of the ingredients cut in half! The resulting taste was definitely different for me, but I did enjoy it & would make it again! [Tagged, made & reviewed for one of my teammates in Aus/NZ Recipe Swap #17]